How to Color Your Pancakes the Natural Way

Every pancake lover (and by that I mean everyone) knows that pancakes are the best way to start a day off. But, eating fluffy hotcakes day in day out might become somewhat monotonous. This is why you should always have a food app, or website handy and look for new recipes every now and then.

The Most Interesting Pancake Recipes

As I already stated, pancake recipes that are out of the ordinary are a hit with me right now! And an even bigger hit? Well, it is the season of love, so red everything is popular, right? The same goes for pancakes. More precisely, the Red Velvet Pancakes are IN right now.

Again, the regular pancake mix will do, but to make these babies the way they are supposed to be, you will still need food coloring.

How to obtain the Red Color for The Red Velvet Pancake Recipe?

Instead of using food coloring, which let’s be honest is the easiest way to give your hotcakes that vibrant red color, you can also go for some other alternatives.

Beets

Beets are famous for their blood-red color. So, half a cup of beet puree added to the batter will result in a red color, plus it will make the pancakes way fluffier! If you have fresh beets at hand, roast them prior to pureeing them. Or, better still, go ahead and buy a can of sliced beets and use them instead. To get rid of any earthy aftertaste the beet might give, use almond milk instead of the regular milk.

Warning:There are also pickled beets, so be careful not to grab a can of those beets! That would be yucky!

Feel free to top these pancakes with anything from syrup to whipped cream, it is going to be the best pancake recipe anyone around you has ever tasted, that’s guaranteed!

Cranberries

You can use cranberries in two ways. Get a cup of them, cover them with water and boil for two hours while simultaneously mashing. As soon as they start making a syrup-like liquid get them off the heat. The easier way you can go about, though, is add a cup of cranberry juice to the batter.

How to Obtain the Different Colors for the Rainbow Pancake Recipe?

There is a pretty straight forward and not at all time-consuming solution to this problem, and it comes in the form of gelatin powder. As we all know there are tons of different flavored Jell-O packages, and they come in one box – pretty handy and simple right? You will need the strawberry, lemon, grape, berry blue, and lime. The colors won’t be as vibrant as if they would be with a drop of food coloring, but that’s ok.

First things first, you will need a mortar and pestle for most of these. Then, you will also need some aluminum foil to wrap them in, because otherwise, they might get stained.

For the Purple Color

Blueberries are the best way to go about if you want to naturally dye your food purple. Use half a cup of them (regardless of whether you have fresh or frozen) and ⅓ cup of water and put them in a food processor. Use a table cloth or a sieve to remove the pulp and skins and you are good to go.

For the Blue Color

Grab a cup of blackberries and start pounding away. First, extract the juice of the berries then get a fine cloth and strain the pulp and juice through it. Make sure there is only the juice left. And to thicken it, bring it to a boil.

For the Red Color

Repeat the same process only replacing the blackberries with raspberries. (Of course, you can go for one of the above-mentioned ways of coloring your pancakes red).

For the Green Color

If you are looking for a minty green color, then grab a handful of mint leaves and put them in a food processor. If, you want a deeper, even emerald green color, then go ahead and replace mint for spinach. This might affect the taste a little bit, though, but spinach pancakes pair perfectly well with maple syrup, so that’s ok.

For the Orange and Yellow Colors

Now, this might sound a bit odd, but it is paprika and ground red pepper that will work best here. Add around a tablespoon in a glass and pour a little bit of water, just to cover it. Put them in the microwave for a short while and then proceed to use it as a food coloring. And no, your pancakes won’t be spicy or hot, don’t worry dear readers.

Go ahead and try some of these out. For the best result use some whipped cream and colorful sprinkles to top the pancake stacks with. And remember, cutting on the food coloring will leave room for improving your pancake recipes. Feel free to spread them over with chocolate or hazelnut spreads, or drown them in fruit syrups.

Posted with much love,

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About Kimberly Miller

Kim is a Family, Lifestyle and Parenting #RVA Mom Blogger focusing on home and family, product reviews and giveaways, food and travel. Kim is raising two teenage sons and has an adult daughter and loves weekend getaways and spur-of-the-moment road trips. She loves cooking, reading, walks on the beach, sunsets and wine. Her dream is to retire to a little cottage on the beach and spend her days collecting shells and talking to the seagulls.

I love being able to use actual food to color other foods instead of the food dye colorings … it’s more fun that way and you can get some extra vitamins in there on the kids and the husband without them realizing it lmao!

Thanks So Much for Sharing This Awesome Recipe on How to Make Colorful Pancakes, I Really Appreciate it! I Absolutely Love Pancakes and I Love Fun Ideas Like This! Unfortunately I Don't Have Kids but I Have 2 Nieces and 2 Nephews and They Love Fun Foods! When I Was Little My Dad Used to Make Me Mickey Mouse Pancakes So Now I Can Make My Nieces and Nephews Colorful Pancakes and it's Nice That I Can Color Them Naturally! Well Thanks Again for Sharing This Awesome Post With Us, Have a Wonderful Evening! - Jana